The child's imagaination
by Electric Ella
Summary: Alice revisits the Wonderland that she dreamed up in her childhood, but in a completely different mindset. Her vivid imagination and childlike fantasies are nothing but a blur now that she is a teenager.
1. Chapter 1

Alice

Chapter one

A/N By the way, this is actually my version of Alice in Wonderland, taking the story and making it slightly sweeter, just a childhood imagination, not a creepy, weird fantasy. I'm not very good at summaries etc, but thanks for taking the time to read this and please review. And this is my take on the story but I don't own the characters etc. Thanks.

The white snowflakes scattered from the sky, landing gently on the ground and softly kissing the trees. Alice walked through the gardens, her long coat swishing against her skinny legs and petite body. Her mother had forced her to go outside, leaving her book and warm fire for the cold afternoon. She enjoyed the fresh January air, but couldn't wait to return to her book. At fifteen years old, Alice was an introverted teenager, known throughout the country for her understanding of her father's business and the family affairs.

She came to the edge of the garden. Her strong leather boots slipped on the snowy ground, but she made her way over to the gap in the fence. She had fit through so easily, all those years ago. It was about the size of a rabbit – maybe that was what had sparked her over reactive seven year old imagination. She laughed at the thought of a talking rabbit in a waistcoat – who could believe in such a thing?

Alice's boots crunched into the snow on the other side of the fence. She was careful not to ruin her beautiful coat, and the fence was easy to climb anyway. Her footprints blurred as the fresh snow covered her tracks. The trees had been so green all those years ago. She remembered her blue apron dress, her black shoes, always muddy from her outdoor adventures.

There was a clearing there. She hadn't been there since that day when she wore the beautiful little dress. She saw the tall hedges of the overgrown maze. Suddenly, Alice didn't find it too hard to believe that she had been chased by such strange creatures. The high, marble archway had hearts carved into it, and there was an old, battered playing card wedged between the claws of the cat (at least she thought that's what it was) that was perched atop the ivy-strangled archway. She remembered her childhood imaginings of the grinning cat who haunted her dreams. She wanted to turn back, but she couldn't for several reasons, the main one being that her mother said she had to be out for at least an hour, as her cheeks were _apparently _too pale.

She stopped. Dead still.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N _thanks to my first reviewer! Hope you like the story and happy reading!_

Chapter 2 

Lying in the ground was a small black headband. Alice's gloved fingers closed around the object, something from portraits and memories. Alice knew that she couldn't turn back. Emotions flooded through her – fear, embarrassment and...Longing. Alice longed for the beautiful, colourful, ever changing world of Wonderland.

She walked through the maze entrance, her shaking fingers tracing the cold marble of the ancient pillars. Her palms were clammy and the cool marble gently soothed her rattled nerves. The ground under her feet changed from uneven gravel to smooth, weathered, cracked marble pathway. The hedges were long overgrown, and though she stood on her tiptoes and craned her neck to the sky, there was no way she could see over the vast wall of evergreen.

"Perhaps this is what it feels like to be tiny", Alice wondered. She stepped carefully around a tree root, noticing how large it had grown. She smiled at a tiny blue caterpillar which had clung onto her shoe. She gently shook it off, sighing, and carried on walking.

Deeper into the maze, she lost all sense of direction. Backed off at dead ends and carried on. It was a blur of overgrown passageways and weird marble statues. One of them was of a very small, fat schoolboy. When Alice looked closely at his collar, it had a name written on it, but the years of dirt and grime had rendered it impossible to read.

She shivered, not liking the expression on the boy's face, and moved on.

The next statue she came to, however, was identical to the one she just passed. A fat little schoolboy with a pudgy face and clothes that were a little too small. Alice stared back the way she came, but knew it wasn't the statue she had just passed. She understood that the maze used to be part of the grounds of her house, and it belonged to an artist, who was a widower and a recluse. Alice supposed that the weird statues were the objects of his work, strange beings that had come out of his mind, brought to life by his hands. Alice wondered if the gardeners would ever open that part of the grounds again. The maze used to be grand, one of the most intricate in the country. Now it was falling apart, an eyesore which they took great pains to ignore.

She thought about the two boys she met in her imaginary world. Unable to remember their names, she quickly kept walking. With her hand keeping herself always turning right, she soon found herself at the very centre of the maze. There was a pond, with a sparkling fountain and pretty statues of fairies gathered around it. A mystical, beautiful secret garden.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N _This is the last chapter and I hope you've enjoyed reading my ramblings. It's really strange but I feel kind of sad now, this was such a fun story to write! Thanks for reading and I hope you like the last chapter! _

Chapter 3

Alice decided that the next time her mother ordered her out into the garden to get some fresh air, she would go there, to the little trickling pond with the sweet fairies. She would take a book to read, so she could sit on the little marble benches. It would technically be getting fresh air, she would be out the house. Her mother was always glad to get rid of her.

The stone benches, the fantasy atmosphere, even the statues made the centre of the maze magical.

Alice had found her Wonderland. The wind stirred the branches of the snowy trees. The statues seemed to grin playfully at her.

The snowflakes scattered daintily from the clouded, endless sky. Alice's red lips turned up into a smile that hadn't been so wide since she was there, all those years ago.


End file.
